Dr. George Van Giesen’s Prelude to Change is Published!

George E. Van Giesen’s Prelude to Change – Struggling to Survive with Chronic Kidney Failure was published by The Ardent Writer Press on January 25, 2017. This is his account of the amazing years from his early career in Augusta, Georgia as a physician caring for patients with chronic renal (kidney) failure.

IT IS NOT OFTEN that the right circumstances, the right people and the right place all line up with the right vision to bring about change for good. We already know that in the 1960s good and strong people stood up for a vision of a country without the boundaries of segregation, for the vision of a country of freedom for every class of citizen, but what we sometimes fail to see is the ripple effect of such a just cause, a society bound together by change and the desire for the opportunities of change.

In 1963 a young Dr. George Van Giesen returned to the segregationist state of his birth, Georgia, to start his new practice in renal medicine. His clients were both black and white, often poor, but after the momentous enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 his first act was creating a colorblind office, a necessary act that established a pattern of service to his community and his patients.

Prelude to Change amply illustrates that Dr. Van Giesen is a generous man, facilitating, at least for that time, cutting-edge and practical treatment for those with chronic renal (kidney) failure.

Prelude to Change also shows that when the right man, the right opportunity, and the right environment align for transformation, anything is possible. In this heart-warming memoir his patients stories are proof that the heart, as much as the mind, is necessary for success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

George Van Giesen grew up along the backwaters and marshes of the Isle of Hope, a short drive from downtown Savannah, Georgia. At seventeen, he left Chatham County for Hall County, when his family moved to Gainesville, Georgia.

After Internship and Medical Residency at Medical College of Georgia, George was awarded a fellowship in Nephrology, at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School, in Dallas, Texas. In 1963, he returned to Augusta to establish a private medical practice. He introduced peritoneal dialysis in the management of patients with chronic renal failure in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA).

He established the dialysis center at MCG’s main teaching hospital, Talmadge Memorial. Shortly thereafter, he developed the first outpatient dialysis treatment facility in the Augusta area. He began accepting those patients who. because of age or other characteristics. failed to meet MCG’s acceptance requirements. He fashioned a dialysis machine from a Maytag washer, and when he could afford it, bought two additional commercial “artificial kidneys.” Later, he moved to a larger facility, with ten dialysis stations, to accommodate a growing dialysis population; eventually locating near the new Doctors Hospital in west Augusta.

He continued his private practice and eventually developed four more dialysis facilities in the CSRA. As Clinical Professor of Medicine, he remained closely associated with the Medical College of Georgia with the Renal and Transplant Sections at MCG, serving on ESRD network committees, and continuing to offer medical students preceptorships.

After retiring in 1995, he and his wife moved to Ft. Myers, Florida where they stayed until the hurricanes persuaded them to leave. Nine years ago they moved back to Savannah. Last year he built a 16 foot rowing shell and sculls on the Moon River, a stone’s throw from his back yard.

Dale “Steve” Gierhart is a retired business manager for the United States Army. Based in Huntsville, Alabama on Redstone Arsenal, his career lasted from 1975 to 2010 in which he managed contracts, finances/accounting, and cost estimating for several missile defense systems, among which were Stinger, Avenger, Chaparral, Sentinel, JLENS, SLAMRAAM, and Non-Line of Sight. The author wishes to thank the many co-workers, peers, and contractors who made these programs successful. It is their tireless work that brought these systems to the soldier that needed them. While budget constraints made it difficult for some of their work to see its full potential, they never blinked, they adjusted. They persevered.Steve hails from Shawnee, Oklahoma; but most of his adult life has been spent in the beautiful hills of North Alabama where he lives with his wife, Bonny, who raises Tennessee Walking Horses.Between them, Steve and Bonny have 5 children and 7 grandchildren, and another grandbaby is on the way.Steve enjoys writing now that he is retired and plans more excursions of the imagination.He and Bonny, a retired engineer who worked as a contractor on several NASA and Army programs, will travel in their retirement though 15 horses, 4 dogs and 3 cats can crimp the best of plans.